Some of the largest firms in the worlds, including Amazon and Google, have pledged to invest in renewable energy amidst calls to address climate change.
Amazon has promised to be carbon neutral by 2040 while Google committed to making record purchases of renewable energy. The announcements were made in line with the day of climate action to be held on Friday, September 20.
On this day, millions of people, mostly children and teenagers, are expected to participate in strikes held globally.
According to Amazon chief executive officer (CEO) Jeff Bezos, the company has several climate initiatives, which include transforming the company to become carbon neutral and meeting the goals of the Paris climate agreement by 2040. In order to accomplish these, Amazon claimed that it has purchased 100,000 electric delivery vehicles to reduce its fuel consumption, the first of which will enter service in 2021
If successful, the e-commerce company would have met the Paris agreement targets 10 years earlier. However, some employees still don't feel that the company has sufficiently done its part, with over 1,500 workers pledging a walkout protest against Amazon's environmental record.
Meanwhile, Google announced that it would make the "biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history" with several new solar and energy agreements. According to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai, the deals include over $2 billion in new energy infrastructure that involves millions of solar panels and hundreds of wind turbines.
Pichai stated in a blog post "Once all these projects come online, our carbon-free energy portfolio will produce more electricity than places like Washington DC or entire countries like Lithuania or Uruguay use each year."
Swedish retailer Ikea, owned by Ingka Group, said its recent purchases in wind and solar systems will enable the company to reach its target to produce as much renewable energy as it consumes by 2020. Ingka chief executive Jesper Brodin claimed that the company spent billions on wind farms and solar panels and will continue to do so.
